2017 Carpin' thread

[dc410]

Last year we had a carpin' thread here on PAFF that went for the better part of 3 months with many forum members participating and lots of great stories and information shared. I'm starting up the 2017 carpin' thread this year a little bit early because the water is starting to warm up and the carp are starting to move out of the deeper water and starting to feed. Its time to get out there and try to stick one!

My idea for this thread is for folks to be able to share information back and forth about catching carp on the fly. It's a great place to share information, successes, failures, photos, new tactics, equipment questions, carp flies or whatever else might be on your mind.

I started off my carpin' season this afternoon while I was trying to tie into a nice pre-spawn smallie on the Conestoga River. I was fishing the seam along a small back water eddy when I spotted the tip of the tail of a large carp in the 2 1/2' deep water. I switched over to one of my favorite carp flies and gently laid the nymph in front of the feeding carp in the very off colored water. The leader twitched and it was game on! The fish took me deep into my backing with my entire 8 wt. line being in the river at the peak of the fight. My best carp yet finally came to hand. 35" and well over 20 lbs. What a blast! Good luck with your carpin' this season and keep the carpin' thread going.

 

[Maurice]

That's a great fish John! Congrats!

 

[Dave_W]

Fatso!

Now that's some motivation to start the carpin season.

I thought I heard some screamin sound coming from about fifty miles away - didn't realize it was a fly reel drag.

 

[Solitariolupo]

Looks like it was a blast to pull that hog in.

 

[nomad_archer]

Wow nice fish John. I don't target carp but they sure are a fun surprise when trout fishing.

 

[jifigz]

I've really got to get into the carp action. I think I'll give it a shot this weekend and see if I can pull one out of the old PA canal. I've read the "Carp on the Fly" book, I've been on the carp websites, I've tied/invented some "carp flies," I think it is time I catch a carp.

 

[3wt7X]

That carp is a beast... Nice job, and here is to many more for you this season.

 

[dc410]

jifigz wrote:
I've really got to get into the carp action. I think I'll give it a shot this weekend and see if I can pull one out of the old PA canal. I've read the "Carp on the Fly" book, I've been on the carp websites, I've tied/invented some "carp flies," I think it is time I catch a carp.

Thanks guys.

jifigz,

Absolutely, if you have an old canal with carp in it that is a great opportunity. Get out there and start taking some shots at feeding carp. Stealth and presentation is the name of the game in carpin'. Get a fly in the zone of a feeding carp without them knowing you are there and you'll be in business. Keep us updated. Good luck!

 

[fritz]

That's a great start to your season for sure! Very nice.

 

[Fredrick]

Congrats I'm jealous I havent broke the 20 lb mark yet .

 

[Susquehanna]

That is sweet! I do enjoy carp fishing myself also.
Usually though I target them in the summer. Good stuff!

 

[acesedgley]

Nice work John!!

 

[somersetian]

Somerset lake has tailing carp everywhere. I should get on it.

 

[dc410]

somersetian wrote:
Somerset lake has tailing carp everywhere. I should get on it.

Yep! Get after them. The carp are really starting to get active. Water temps are warming up a bit and with the predicted high temps this week it should keep that trend moving. I located a whole pile of fish yesterday afternoon that just showed up out of the depths into the shallower flats of a local pond.

 

[dc410]

This warmer trend of weather really has the carp on the move. I located a whole bunch of carp yesterday afternoon that had moved into a shallower flat area of a pond. The sun was high and bright and everybody and their brother were out fishing, running, walking the dog, throwing balls in the pond for the dog, sunbathing, reading etc. Certainly not perfect conditions for catching a carp on a fly. I found a few carp that appeared to be naturally feeding and laid my fly in front of the closest one. The fish immediately turned toward my fly and sucked it in. I pretty much spooked the rest of the fish in that area of the pond fighting the fish but did manage to bring my first mirror carp of the year to the net. I don't generally catch many of these mirror carp and this one was not huge but put up a great battle. This mirror was kind of unique in that it was practically scaleless with just a few scales along the dorsal fin and near the tail. Can't wait to get back into that pond some morning this week just before sunrise, hope I get the chance!

 

[Fredrick]

dc410 wrote:
This warmer trend of weather really has the carp on the move. I located a whole bunch of carp yesterday afternoon that had moved into a shallower flat area of a pond. The sun was high and bright and everybody and their brother were out fishing, running, walking the dog, throwing balls in the pond for the dog, sunbathing, reading etc. Certainly not perfect conditions for catching a carp on a fly. I found a few carp that appeared to be naturally feeding and laid my fly in front of the closest one. The fish immediately turned toward my fly and sucked it in. I pretty much spooked the rest of the fish in that area of the pond fighting the fish but did manage to bring my first mirror carp of the year to the net. I don't generally catch many of these mirror carp and this one was not huge but put up a great battle. This mirror was kind of unique in that it was practically scaleless with just a few scales along the dorsal fin and near the tail. Can't wait to get back into that pond some morning this week just before sunrise, hope I get the chance!

Nice catch . I still have to catch a mirror and a Christmas fish, definitely a goal for this summer

 

[somersetian]

Are carp spawning right now? I was pike fishing on Tuesday and my streamer got snagged in a downed tree. I pulled in to the branches to retrieve it and a carp started swarming my boat. It was acting pretty aggressive like it was defending something

 

[dc410]

I've seen carp spawning activity vary greatly from place to place and it is possible some early spawning might be happening at this time although it seems a bit early to me. I think it is mostly effected by warming water temperatures and an increase in the amount of daylight. They make quite a disturbance when they are chasing and thrashing around in the shallows. They deposit their eggs over submerged objects but generally very little parental care is given to the eggs after they are deposited. I've never really heard of or seen a carp aggressively defend their nest site like a smallie or sunfish would defend its redd.

 

[dc410]

A cloudy morning with very off color water from yesterday's rain event made for great conditions but the sight fishing was a bit of a challenge with the very limited visibility. The carp are active and feeding. I was just fishing heavier silt clouds and bubbles. I lost a big one after about a 10 minute battle and finally brought this fish to the net.

 

[jifigz]

Nice work as usual DC410! I really need to get out there but I've been crushing so many beautiful wild browns on nymphs lately that I can't seem to pry myself off of the great trout streams. I haven't even targeted smallies at all in 2017 really and that is just going against my roots.